1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to retirement; public employees local government correctional service 
1.3 	retirement plan; modifying eligibility to add public safety telecommunicators; 
1.4 	providing for an employee contribution rate for public safety telecommunicators; 
1.5 	modifying the vesting requirements for public safety telecommunicators; modifying 
1.6 	the definition of 911 telecommunicator;  amending Minnesota Statutes 2022, 
1.7 	sections 353E.02, subdivision 1, by adding a subdivision; 353E.03, subdivision 
1.8 	1; 403.02, subdivision 17c; Minnesota Statutes 2023 Supplement, section 353.01, 
1.9 	subdivision 47.
1.10 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.11 	Section 1. IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC SAFETY TELECOMMUNICATORS.
 1.12 	(a) The legislature acknowledges that a primary responsibility of government is to ensure 
1.13 	public safety and that almost always an emergency response begins with a request to 911 
1.14 	for assistance. Requests to 911 and subsequent emergency response communications are 
1.15 	managed by public safety telecommunicator professionals. These public safety essential 
1.16 	professionals are the first, first responders. They triage requests for emergency responses 
1.17 	and provide lifesaving instructions and guidance to those who call 911, ensuring the 
1.18 	appropriate response for the situation from law enforcement, behavioral health, fire, and 
1.19 	emergency medical service providers.
1.20 	(b) Public safety telecommunicators also dispatch, track, process, and transmit information 
1.21 	from the public and continually communicate with responders providing an additional layer 
1.22 	of safety for public safety professionals in the field. Prior to the arrival of first responders 
1.23 	at the site of an emergency, duties of the public safety telecommunicator include:
1.24 	(1) guiding the administration of lifesaving NARCAN;
1.25 	(2) providing telephone cardiopulmonary resuscitation instruction;
2.1 	(3) directing the delivery of newborn babies; and
2.2 	(4) deescalating domestic violence situations.
2.3 	(c) The legislature acknowledges the contributions made by public safety 
2.4 	telecommunicators toward public safety, a primary responsibility of government, and 
2.5 	endorses the arduous work of the public safety telecommunicator to be classified as a public 
2.6 	safety, first responder role.
2.7 	(d) In accordance with this endorsement and acknowledgment, and in an effort to attract 
2.8 	and retain highly qualified individuals to this profession, the legislature finds and declares 
2.9 	that public safety telecommunicators who are public employees in Minnesota must have 
2.10 	retirement benefits commensurate with their role in keeping the public safe.

2.11 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2023 Supplement, section 353.01, subdivision 47, is amended 
2.12 	to read:
2.13 		Subd. 47.Vesting. (a) "Vesting" means obtaining a nonforfeitable entitlement to an 
2.14 	annuity or benefit from a retirement plan administered by the association by having credit 
2.15 	for sufficient allowable service under paragraph (b), (c), or (d), whichever applies.
2.16 	(b) For purposes of qualifying for an annuity or benefit as a basic or coordinated plan 
2.17 	member of the general employees retirement plan of the association, a public employee is 
2.18 	100 percent vested when the person has accrued credit for not less than three years of 
2.19 	allowable service in the general employees retirement plan.
2.20 	(c) For purposes of qualifying for an annuity or benefit as a member of the local 
2.21 	government correctional service retirement plan:
2.22 	(1) a public employee who first became a member of the association before July 1, 2010, 
2.23 	is 100 percent vested when the person has accrued credit for not less than three years of 
2.24 	allowable service in the local government correctional service retirement plan; and
2.25 	(2) a public employee who first becomes a member of the association after June 30, 
2.26 	2010, is vested at the following percentages when the person has accrued credit for allowable 
2.27 	service in the local government correctional service retirement plan, as follows:
2.28 	(i) 50 percent after five years;
2.29 	(ii) 60 percent after six years;
2.30 	(iii) 70 percent after seven years;
2.31 	(iv) 80 percent after eight years;
3.1 	(v) 90 percent after nine years; and
3.2 	(vi) 100 percent after ten years.; and
3.3 	(3) a public safety telecommunicator who becomes covered by the local government 
3.4 	correctional service retirement plan on or after July 1, 2025, must receive credit for each 
3.5 	year of allowable service, if any, under the general employees retirement plan for the purpose 
3.6 	of determining the public safety telecommunicator's vesting percentage under clause (2).
3.7 	(d) For purposes of qualifying for an annuity or benefit as a member of the police and 
3.8 	fire retirement plan:
3.9 	(1) a public employee who first became a member of the association before July 1, 2010, 
3.10 	is 100 percent vested when the person has accrued credit for not less than three years of 
3.11 	allowable service in the public employees police and fire retirement plan; and
3.12 	(2) a public employee who first becomes a member of the association after June 30, 
3.13 	2010, is vested at the following percentages when the person has accrued credited allowable 
3.14 	service in the police and fire plan, as follows:
3.15 	(i) 50 percent after five years;
3.16 	(ii) 60 percent after six years;
3.17 	(iii) 70 percent after seven years;
3.18 	(iv) 80 percent after eight years;
3.19 	(v) 90 percent after nine years; and
3.20 	(vi) 100 percent after ten years.

3.21 	Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 353E.02, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
3.22 		Subdivision 1.Retirement coverage. The members of the local government correctional 
3.23 	service retirement plan established by this chapter are:
3.24 	(1) local government correctional service employees as defined in subdivision 2; and
3.25 	(2) medical center protection officers as defined in subdivision 2a.; and
3.26 	(3) public safety telecommunicators as defined in subdivision 2b.

4.1 	Sec. 4. Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 353E.02, is amended by adding a subdivision to 
4.2 	read:
4.3 		Subd. 2b.Public safety telecommunicators. (a) A public safety telecommunicator, for 
4.4 	purposes of subdivision 1, is a person whom the employer certifies:
4.5 	(1) is a public safety telecommunicator as defined in section 403.02, subdivision 17c; 
4.6 	and
4.7 	(2) is a public employee as defined in section 353.01, but is not a member of the public 
4.8 	employees police and fire retirement plan.
4.9 	(b) The certification required under paragraph (a) must be made in writing on a form 
4.10 	prescribed by the executive director of the Public Employees Retirement Association.

4.11 	Sec. 5. Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 353E.03, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
4.12 		Subdivision 1.Member contributions. (a) A member of the local government 
4.13 	correctional service retirement plan who is not a public safety telecommunicator shall make 
4.14 	an employee contribution in an amount equal to 5.83 percent of salary.
4.15 	(b) A member of the local government correctional service retirement plan who is a 
4.16 	public safety telecommunicator shall make an employee contribution in an amount equal 
4.17 	to 6.5 percent of salary.

4.18 	Sec. 6. Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 403.02, subdivision 17c, is amended to read:
4.19 		Subd. 17c.911 telecommunicator. "911Public safety telecommunicator" means a 
4.20 	person employed by a public safety answering point, an emergency medical dispatch service 
4.21 	provider, or both, who serves as an initial first responder and is qualified to answer incoming 
4.22 	emergency telephone calls or provide for the appropriate emergency response either directly 
4.23 	or through communication with the appropriate public safety answering point.

4.24 	Sec. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE.
 4.25 	Sections 1 to 6 are effective July 1, 2025.